YummY Vietnam

Hu Tieu Nam Vang (Phnom Penh Noodle soup) was originated from Cambodia but prepared by Chinese. After the introduction to Vietnam, this type of soup has a little variation in the way of cooking and eating to suit the taste of the Southern people.

Many people argue that Hu Tieu Nam Vang is the “multi-ethnic” dish. Partly because this is the “national soul” of Cambodia, created by Chinese people, and dedicated for Vietnamese people to enjoy. Another reason is that the popularity of this dish in Vietnam, especially Saigon, is almost the same as any other dishes, whether it’s “pho” or “com tam.”

The time when Hu Tieu Nam Vang began to be popular in Saigon was not clearly remembered. Some people believed that this dish became famous when following many Vietnamese repatriates to come back to their hometown from Cambodia in the 70s of the last century.

When first appeared in Saigon, Hu Tieu NamVang changed a lot to suit the local taste. The original dish had only minced and sliced pork served with lettuce and raw bean sprouts (with a little sugar spread on the noodles). When wandering along the waves of Vietnamese people back to Saigon, it has changed significantly about its style. While the inside part was added liver, heart, shrimp, quail eggs, and so on, the accompanying vegetables are also more plentiful with water dropwort, tung ho vegetables and chives. Even having such a difference, no one would wonder about these changes because of the suitable taste.

The taste of Hu Tieu Nam Vang is distinctive first thanks to the noodle string. It must be made manually from the stage of grinding rice to sun drying, to make the string to be chewy, fragrant, no sour smell. Also, it is soft and flexible when pouring into the water. Next, the soup has a sweet taste, especially with the scent of dried shrimp.

The Chinese cooking way of Hu Tieu Nam Vang has the greasy taste of oily water and aroma of soy sauce, minced meat, broth cooked from the pork guts and bones, and so on. Although there are differences in an eating way among Hu Tieu Nam Vang of Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian people, the main ingredients are still dry rice noodles and indispensable minced meat when served on the bowl.

Like other broths, the Southern broth is made from pork bones which made it rich, clear, and fresh. The secret of each broth can vary from one to another location. Some people have radish; others may add squid, dried shrimp, pork guts, etc. to make the broth have a naturally sweet taste.

Ingredients for Hu Tieu Nam Vang Recipe:

• 200 gr pork guts
• 3 tbsp minced red onion
• 100 gr dry squid
• 12 quail eggs
• 120 ml of fish sauce
• 200 gr minced meat
• 6 tbsp of white sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 kg of noodles
• 2 tbsp soup powder
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 kg of pig bone
• 300 gr of pork liver
• 1 white radish
• 6 liters of water
• 300 gr bacon
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• One tablespoon dark soy sauce

Instructions on how to cook Hu Tieu Nam Vang

Step 1: Boil the bones in the water to remove its dirty foam.

Step 2: After that, Take out the bones and continue to cook with 3 liters of new water, bone-healing to make the broth.

Step 3: Add white radish, red onion, small dried squid to make the broth sweeter.

Step 4: Simmer for 1 hour and then add 120 ml of fish sauce, 2 tbsp of salt, 4 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of soup powder (or seasoning) to the pot.

Step 5: Fry the onion and garlic then, add the minced meat to the pan and stir evenly. Put half of the fried pork in the pot and mix 1/2 remaining meat into noodles.

Step 6: Boil quail eggs, pork guts, pork liver, shrimp, meat to ripen and slice into thin pieces.

Step 7: Wait to have a hot pan before frying the garlic and onion. Then, add 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce, 4 tbsp of soy sauce, 2,5 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of seasoning powder and 100 ml of water. Stir to dissolve the sugar and turn off the heat to serve as a sauce.

Step 8: Scald the noodles with a few drops of cooking oil to keep them from sticking together. Then take out the noodles and mix them with a little garlic oil for the fragrant aroma.

Step 9: Next, add boiled meat, liver, pork guts, lettuce, bean sprouts, chives, 1/2 minced meat and sprinkle with the prepared sauce. Serve with a creamy sweet broth of bone and squid. In the end, you have a delicious dish of Hu Tieu Nam Vang with authentic taste and very high quality!